Payment Cards with Contactless Technology to Be Introduced in Near Future
Press release, 20 March 2012
This year, OP-Pohjola Group will introduce payment cards utilising contactless
technology, making it possible to pay for small purchases without entering the
PIN. Payment will be made by holding the card a maximum of two or three
centimetres away from the payment terminal.
The objective of contactless payments is to make paying quicker and easier. The
benefits will be particularly clear in situations where cardholders make small
purchases, prefer paying promptly and feel that entering the PIN would be
inconvenient. In Finland, the maximum payment amount will be 25 euros. Any
payments in excess of this amount will be made by using the same card in the
traditional manner - that is, by inserting the card in the payment terminal and
approving the payment by entering the PIN.
OP-Pohjola Group's payment cards utilising contactless technology are currently
being tested both in Finland and abroad. Our goal is to have OP-Visa Debit cards
with the contactless payment facility available to our customers in autumn
2012. Any OP-Visa Debit cards ordered and renewed after that time will
automatically feature the contactless payment facility. According to our plans,
the facility will be available in other card types once contactless payments are
more widely accepted.
Cards utilising contactless technology will function in Finland and abroad in
stores where payment terminals are compatible with contactless payments.
Customers will be able to identify these payment terminals from the trademarks
Visa payWave and MasterCard paypass.
Chip guarantees payment security - liabilities remain unchanged
From the technological perspective, contactless payments are chip payments,
which guarantees payment security. No chip information is known to have been
successfully read or copied for criminal purposes so that the card could have
been misused. In the event of fraud, liabilities are equivalent to those in chip
payments in general.
The cardholder is not held liable for purchases made using a card that has been
reported lost or stolen. The cardholder is responsible for reporting the card
lost without delay so that the card can be deactivated. In addition, the
cardholder is expected to know the location of his or her card, which means that
the card should be in the cardholder's possession. As with all other cards,
cards with the contactless payment facility are also personal and may not be
given to another person to use.
For more information, please contact: Kasimir Hirn, Head of Cards, OP-Pohjola
Group, tel. +358 (0)10 252 3047
OP-Pohjola Group is Finland's leading financial services group providing a
unique range of banking, investment and insurance services. The Group has the
mission of promoting the sustainable prosperity, well-being and security of its
owner-members, customers and operating regions through its local presence. Its
objective is to offer the best and most versatile package of loyal customer
benefits on the market. OP-Pohjola Group consists of some 200 member cooperative
banks and the Group's central institution, OP-Pohjola Group Central Cooperative,
with its subsidiaries and closely-related companies, the largest of which is the
listed company Pohjola Bank plc. With a staff of more than 13,000 OP-Pohjola
Group posted consolidated earnings of 518 million euros before tax in 2011 and
had total assets of 92 billion euros on 31 December 2011. The group has over
four million customers.
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Source: Pohjola Pankki Oyj via Thomson Reuters ONE
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